Your Friendly Neighborhood Music Critic

Hodgy Beats – Dena Beats 2

For those of us who remember that Odd Future consists of more members than just Tyler and Earl, last week Hodgy Beats decided to drop a new mixtape with Don Cannon titled, Dena Tape 2. He even finds his own relevance a recent joke, at the end of “Hodgy x Doms (feat. Domo Genesis),” where the ending skit consists of an over-exaggerated fan screaming for Hodgy who responds, “I’m just tryin’a watch the game.”

As a less popular Odd Future member, it seems as if Hodgy’s been just “watching the game” for awhile now. Is 2015 Hodgy’s year to rise up to Tyler and Earl Sweatshirt level Odd Future fame? It’s tough to tell from Dena Tape 2. If it’s going to be though, he’s gunning for it. While most of the tape isn’t necessarily the best, on track 7, “Moneyball,” Hodgy takes on the beat of “Sing About Me,” from Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, and does a pretty decent job, showcasing the greatest flow and real rapping talent of his career so far, which continues onto the next track as well.

When speaking of Odd Future, it always comes to the dilemma of popularity vs. serious fame. With Tyler, The Creator as Odd Future’s head honcho and overall creative hive-mind, and Earl Sweatshirt, the prodigal son, a brilliant “resurrected” rage/young-angst turned serious lyricist, what leaves left for Hodgy Beats? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.